


Alternate Amalgam Adventures

by orphan_account



Series: The Feral, the Fused and the Foolish [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sixbones, Brittle is Pure Bean, Burgerpants as Colleague, HorrorTale, Multi, Other, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader x Everyone, Reader-Insert, Surface timeline, Underfell, Undertale Monsters on the Surface, actually everybody is, combined AU timeline, sixbones, underswap - Freeform, undertale - Freeform, x Reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:28:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22622548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Today was terrible. Not only did you wake up to find an eviction notice on your door, but the bus you were taking was over an hour late. Fortunately, you have a friend in a cabin up north that you could probably stay with, but when you find yourself at the wrong cabin-- one inhabited by melting creatures, no less-- you realise that there was something else going on.The melting creatures are kind to you. They're friendly.
Relationships: Burgerpants (Undertale) & Reader, Papyrus & Sans (Undertale), Papyrus (Horrortale)/Reader, Papyrus (Underswap)/Reader, Papyrus (Undertale)/Reader, Papyrus (underfell)/reader, Sans (Horrortale)/Reader, Sans (Underfell)/Reader, Sans (Underswap)/Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader, Sixbones/Reader
Series: The Feral, the Fused and the Foolish [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1650988
Comments: 101
Kudos: 300





	1. Unsettling In

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Skeletal Shenanigans in Scrambled Shambles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20553902) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 
  * Inspired by [Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9816140) by [Tyrant_Tortoise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyrant_Tortoise/pseuds/Tyrant_Tortoise). 



> This fic is a variation of my main fic, Skeletal Shenanigans in Scrambled Shambles, focusing primarily on the Sixbones variants. You'll notice Reader making a few noticeable references to events of my main fic, but they'll be few and far between.

Today was terrible. You had just received an eviction notice from your apartment and were currently sitting at a poorly sheltered bus stop in the pouring rain because your car had broken down. What were you going to do? Fortunately, you didn't have many belongings of your own so you didn't have to haul around boxes of junk. You had very few close friends, so couch surfing wasn't much an option. But eventually, you realised something. You remembered an old friend of yours had recently moved to their winter cabin up north. Perhaps you could crash there until you could get back on your feet? Their winter cabin was a few kilometers away, so perhaps you could pay them a visit and crash at their place for a few days until you could get something figured out.

A car had driven way too fast around the corner, the resulting wave of water from the puddles splashed you. You were now dripping wet and the bus was still nowhere to be found despite being scheduled to arrive an hour ago. Brilliant. Absolutely bloody brilliant. A few minutes later, you heard a loud engine going your direction. You recognised the sound and look as the bus slowed to a stop. You stood up carefully, the doors opening and the driver looking at you with a bored expression plastered on her face.

You boarded the bus, paying the driver with what little spare change you had left. The driver nodded, you walked towards the back. The bus was fairly empty but you still preferred sitting towards the back. You didn't know why. The bus started moving before you sat down, startling you and making you grip onto a seat to keep from falling. Eventually you sat down and took the opportunity to close your eyes for just a second.

You awoke with a start. The unfamiliar scenery around you was of a town you'd never seen before. An old-style diner with a faintly lit sign that simply read "Grillby's" was something you'd never see in the busy city you were from. The small parks, houses, and cornerside stores made you realise you were probably in a completely different city. If you hadn't noticed that, the fact that the people walking around were mostly monsters would've caused the same realisation. The bus driver was different, too. You pulled out your phone and typed in 'grillby' to see what you could find. Apparently there was only one establishment in a small town that looked just like where you were now. Unfortunately, where you were was something you had no idea. You were near a small wooded area, and the town's name matched what you remembered your friend telling you. You could only guess what was going on, so you pushed the 'stop requested' button and stood up, making your way towards the side door.

The bus slid to a stop and you exited, still trying to get your bearings. You recognised a path going into the woods, and followed it. "Now let's hope I can actually get there." You muttered, not noticing the eyelights staring you down.

* * *

You walked into a clearing. You'd been walking for about twenty minutes now and you had the faint feeling you were lost. You'd stumbled past a few traps along the way, making you question who would possibly want to set up _net traps_ and _spike pits_ in the woods. Fortunately, the cabin was coming into view. It looked a bit different than you remembered, there was no semicircular protrusion and the general shape appeared worn and run down. Probably just your faulty memory.

You opened the door with little difficulty, noticing that despite the area being muddy there were no footprints. It might've been abandoned. If so, all the better. Your brain was screaming at you that this was the wrong place, your gut was telling you that you were in danger, and your heart was beating a mile a second. You shouldn't enter a cabin even if it belonged to a close friend of yours. You were shocked to find that the place looked fairly normal, if a tad dirty from underuse. There was what appeared to be mould or slime gathered in the corners, but you couldn't tell anything else. You sat down on the sofa and your hand touched the couch.

It was wet, and something was moving on it. You screamed as the slime in the room seemed to gather into three distinct clumps and form into silhouettes of people. The darkness in the room didn't matter, you could see them clearly now; as if they were emitting their own light. The first pair looked as if it was comprised of a taller person and a shorter person, but they were fused. The taller seemed to be a support, its legs firmly rooted to the ground. Its face was startling, to say the least. The melting eyes and face made it look like melting ice cream. You looked at its clothes, which seemed to be a mess. The melting person's clothes looked like it was armour at one point, the chestpiece was melting to the exposed spine-- making you realise it was at one point likely a skeleton monster. Its scarf and what you could only presume to be boots were an eyecatching red, but it mixed in with the bones, creating a mess that appeared somewhat pink around the edges.

The second skeleton was firmly attached to the taller in a position you could only guess was uncomfortable. The skeleton's mouth was stuck in a grin that seemed as if it were frozen-- like when your parents told you that your face would get frozen in whatever expression you had made. Parts of its left eyesocket was dripping down its mouth, which seemed impossible because it was a skeleton and its eyesockets were holes. The skeleton's right arm was limp, making you think of a broken limb. The other arm seemed to be hugging the taller. The shorter seemed to be wearing a blue hoodie and shorts, but those were melting as well. How the clothes of either were melting, you couldn't guess.

The second pair of skeletons looked similar to the first pair. The taller was acting as a support, but its legs seemed slacker and it seemed to be slouching. Its orange hoodie and olive jeans were a contrast to the previous' white and red aesthetic. Its eyesockets were melting down its face, similar to the other pair. Its mouth was tilted upwards as if smiling, but with all the melting it was hard to tell. It was clutching onto the shorter skeleton in its pair, who was smiling at you excitedly.

The shorter skeleton in the pair looked just like the shorter in the first pair, its shorter size startling you. Was it a child? No, it couldn't be. It waved at you with its right hand, though it seemed to fall back into its limp position afterwards. Its grin seemed frozen, though the eyesockets weren't melting down its face like the previous. Its outfit was a startling grey, the T-shirt relatively plain. The skeleton's shorts were a blueish hue, but its scarf was an eyecatching blue. It was bright, and didn't appear to be melting at all.

The third pair you couldn't see or even tell it was a pair-- it was in the furthest corner and appeared to be hiding from you. You could only guess it was a pair because of the pattern so far. Your heart suddenly sank, the first pair was approaching you.

* * *

"Human?" Its voice echoed, you couldn't tell if it was the shorter or the taller speaking, neither of their mouths moved. "...Friend..." The taller skeleton moved its arm towards you, shaking. The shorter skeleton moved its arm towards you. It looked like something out of a horror movie, but it seemed friendly. You smiled at it, shaking the taller's hand and then the shorter. Your hand got stuck, they were quite sticky.

"What's your name?" You asked, curious.

The pair paused, as if they had no idea what their names were. After a moment, they spoke. "Called me... Called me Amalgam. ...Your name?"

Amalgam? That's no name for people. You nodded, knowing you wouldn't get a better answer from it. "My name's Y/N. What're you all doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

Amalgam stopped moving altogether, save for the occasional drip. "Don't know... Science man put us here. Here is safe." You could make out two distinct voices talking, though they still echoed. The shorter one spoke slowly, likely thinking about his answers before speaking. The taller one was faster, voice sounding nasally. You noticed the second pair of skeletons move towards you, and you smiled at them. You had no idea who this 'science man' was or why they were all in the woods, but you were saving that question for later.

The second pair of skeletons moved towards you slowly and deliberately. There wasn't much a word to describe how it practically melted across the ground, moving more like a liquid than the other pair. "Hu...man! Hi!" The shorter one spoke, you could hear the energy in his voice. The taller one spoke separately, giving you a lazy wave. "how's it... go? i'm... we're... composite." The taller skeleton spoke slowly, as if testing to see your reaction. Composite didn't sound like a name for a person either, but you were certain at this point that was the best answer you were going to get.

Composite smiled at you, the shorter holding out his hand. "Shake... Hand?" You nodded, smiling. His hands weren't very sticky, you could easily escape his grip. You noticed the third pair of skeletons staring at you from the back.

"Friend... foe?" The taller of the third pair glared at you. The shorter seemed to be trying to convince the taller, "...good human, boss."

You nodded. "I'm a friend. I'm just here for a visit." Honestly, you were surprised you hadn't left when you saw the pairs of skeletons. The third pair moved towards you quickly, surprising you. They looked like they'd move slowly, but they were faster than the rest. This pair looked like the first one but a lot darker.

You took the time to look at the pair properly. The taller one was wearing a triangular chestpiece, shoulder pads curved upwards to make it look spiky; the dripping of the armour made it look weird and it lost its intimidating factor rather quickly. The skeleton's body was scarred badly, a massive wound over his left eyesocket was dripping down the scowl on his face. He was still glaring at you distrustfully.

The smaller skeleton in the pair winked at you, and you smiled back. He was grinning at you with the frozen grin the smaller skeletons had, a golden tooth glinting as it melted down the skeleton's lower jaw. His eyesockets were melting down his face, and you could see either sweat forming or his face melting the longer you looked at him. "'sup... kid. th'name's brittle." The smaller spoke slowly, a heavy accent seeping through his voice. The smaller was wearing a black jacket with what you could only guess to have once been fur lining it, but the fur had melted together and was quite the mess. His shorts were black, too.

The pair was fused in such a way that it made you wonder what happened. The taller appeared to be holding the smaller in front of him, but it was not like the embraces you've seen in the other pairs. This one looked spiteful, as if the taller didn't want the shorter with him in the slightest. You felt bad for the both of them, they must've not liked each other very much beforehand.

"Human? Sleep..?" Amalgam tapped your shoulder. You nodded, and Amalgam attempted to pull you with them with very few results. A droning noise was emitted from Amalgam's shorter entity, and you realised he was snoring. The taller did not like this. "...No no." Amalgam's taller entity was trying to wake the shorter. "No sleep. Human sleep, not you."

You genuinely loved that, despite how sad it would be out of context. "Human... Stairs that way." Amalgam pointed towards the staircase, and you managed to get up the stairs with relative ease.

* * *

You couldn't sleep very much that night. You weren't complaining, the guest room was nice and being able to watch the sunset was even nicer, but after the events of the day combined with your new cabinmates you were still in shock. Fortunately, the sounds stopped around four in the morning. You fell asleep shortly thereafter, but you knew you were going to have nightmares.


	2. Melted Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You wake up to find several of the skeletons had attempted to make a breakfast for you. It's definitely not edible. Later on, you ask Brittle some questions, the answers to which aren't easy to swallow either.

You wake with a start, looking around and trying to figure out where you were. After a moment, the fragmented memories come back to you. You let out a squeak-like sound, startled by the slow scratching at the door to the room. From the looks of things, it was quite early. You reached for your phone, sighing in relief when you saw that you still had a few hours until you had to leave. You had a few things you wanted to do.

You sighed, wondering who it was at this hour. "Come on in!" You mumbled, hoping that whoever it was would hear. The door creaked open, and your mind mentally screamed at you to run until you realised who it was. Amalgam moved in-- you weren't exactly sure what to call his movement, whether it was a slither or a step you couldn't decide and didn't want to this early-- and the taller entity smiled at you.

"Human? Downstairs... breakfast." It echoed. The smaller skeleton seemed distressed, while the taller looked overjoyed. You slid out of bed, still wearing your clothes from the day prior.

"Sure, I'll be down in a second." You smiled, rubbing your eyes. Amalgam seemed happy with the response, and slid out of the room. You followed suit, though you walked instead. It seemed everybody else was downstairs if the talking was anything to go by; that was good. You had a few questions to ask your skeletal roommates after breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast, what was that ungodly smell? The entire downstairs area had the aroma of burnt sugar, pasta, and vinegar. You walked towards the kitchen, the aroma getting stronger as you approached. Looking at the kitchen counter, you could see what appeared to be lasagne, though the dish lacked the sauce you were ever-familiar with. The meal was stuffed with what appeared to be burnt candies and topped with cheese. You had little doubt that this meal was inedible, but judging by the proud expressions of each skeleton, they thought otherwise. You didn't want to be disrespectful.

You sat down on a stool by the counter, all six skeletons staring at you expectantly. You clutched a fork in one hand and knife in the other, and shakily moved it towards your food. _This is it, this is how you're going to die._ The thought flashed through your mind. You smiled at them all. "Thank you so much for your efforts! It looks just as interesting as all of you!" You had to word your sentences carefully, you didn't know how they'd react to your honest opinion, added to the fact that they had spent so much effort in making this, made you want to at least be polite. Besides, who knew. Looks could be deceiving.

Unfortunately, not this one. The second you cut off a sliver of pasta and put it in your mouth, you had to fight back the urge to vomit. The pasta was undercooked to the point of being more like a cracker than a noodle, the candies were extremely bitter with an underlying fruit flavour, and upon chewing, you realised that there was burnt meat on the inside-- burnt to the point of tasting more like charcoal than anything else. The entire meal was extremely bitter, and you realised it was from the vast amounts of _vinegar_ that was poured over the dish. You choked it down, and gave a twitchy thumbs-up. You looked at the skeletons with a forced smile, and they looked... satisfied with your response.

Brittle moved past you, the shorter skeleton giving you a wink. Amalgam stood next to you, and Composite's two forms smiled and exhaled. "good job... human. bro tried... glad you glad. sleep now." The taller form mumbled. The shorter did not like this. "Pap! No! We... puzzle now!"

Composite slithered towards the exit, likely to 'puzzle,' whatever that meant. Amalgam's taller form clapped, not realising its gloves ended up stuck together, and followed suit. Brittle stayed behind, both forms watching you carefully. You realised that now was your chance to attempt to get some answers from him. "Brittle?" The taller form's head perked up at that. "I have some questions to ask you, if that's alright."

Brittle moved closer, slow and cautious. "Question?" The voices echoed.

"Yep, just a few. Would you like a..." You hands searched your pockets before finding a wrapped toffee you didn't know you had and a small notepad, "a toffee if you answer the questions?" You felt bad for bribing Brittle, but you knew that was going to be the way you got any answers from the two of them.

The taller entity's eyesockets widened. "Toffee? Can..dy? Question. Yes." He said, moving towards the couch and sitting down.

"Okay, thank you. Do you know the science man?" You asked, sitting next to the skeletons. Brittle appeared shocked, before the shorter entity moved his phalanges towards you and rested them on your shoulder.

"Science man... from woods." The taller began. The shorter finished the sentence with three simple words, "me, not us."

What did he mean with him and not them? They were separate entities, did that mean that the science man was a singular entity? That _would_ make sense, but why did Brittle mention the smaller _specifically_? You had no idea. Regardless, you scribbled down the answer. "Next question: Do you know what happened to you all?"

Brittle was quiet for several minutes, you genuinely thought he had fallen asleep, but the shorter skeleton's staring at you made you realise that he was thinking. "bad science. not science man."

Bad science? At least it wasn't the mysterious science man who had done this to them all. Again, you wrote down the answer. Brittle's taller form glared at you. "Toffee... now?" He asked.

You shook your head. "One more: Who is science man?" You asked, wanting to figure out a clear identity if you went to the authorities about this.

"me, not us. me, not us. me, not us." The shorter repeated, golden tooth shining in the sunrise. "lab. me, not us. bad machine. woods bad. leaving bad. stuck. stuck here, wrong place... all lies perpetuated... hear you soon. bad thing." You noticed that the shorter skeleton's eyesockets had fallen further down his face. The taller skeleton was glaring at you. "All lies. All lies. Bad thing."

That was the most you had ever heard the two say. You doubted you were going to get any information here, but you needed to do some thinking on what information you had gotten. You wrote down the final answer, and as promised you gave Brittle the toffee. The taller immediately swiped it at the smaller's protest. Without even unwrapping it, the skeleton ate it. "Good. You... more?"

You shook your head. "I don't have any more. But I have to head out to work soon, I'll pick up a few for you." You knew you'd return, it wasn't an empty promise.

The taller skeleton glowered at you before sighing, a motion that seemed to relax both figures. "Fine..."

On that note, satisfied with the answers, you started getting ready to head to work. You knew you'd probably have to catch an early bus, so you had plenty of time to think. Something was still on your mind. You checked your notepad. 'All lies perpetuated, hear you soon.' _What does that mean?_ _What could that possibly mean?_


	3. Wonder and Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go to work and you get some answers from an unmotivated coworker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter than usual, but you can bet it's full of plot points and the occasional hints of a backstory. Not proofread because my computer updated halfway through writing this and I wanted to keep things on schedule for once.

You had plenty of time to think on the long bus ride out of the town you were in. For some reason, your notes made no sense to you. All lies perpetuated, hear you soon? Clearly not a normal sentence. You had tried to decipher it, but nothing worked. You'd get a strange combination of letters for each thing you tried, but one thing stuck with you. ALPHYS. What was an Alphys? What did that have to do with 'science man' and how was the science man half of Brittle?

After hours of thinking, your bus eventually reached the stop you were trying to get to. You left it, and began the short walk to your workplace. The flashy restaurant was owned by a very flamboyant monster, though you had never seen him in person. The cat monster who served as the receptionist was the only one who had been rumoured to work with Mettaton underground, yet he never said anything about the other. "Sup, Felix?" You greeted the cat monster on your way inside, seemingly startling him. While you did most of the kitchenwork at the MTT Burger Emporium, Felix did everything else. You had no idea how Felix could've done this for over a decade.

"Uh, not much. What's up with you?" Felix stuttered. For some reason, everybody seemed to call him Burgerpants. You didn't know the inside joke, you were one of the few people to actually call him his real name. "You're here early."

"Yeah, I had a few questions I wanted to ask you about some people I met the other day." Felix paused. You knew he didn't like answering questions. "I'm sorry, it's been a long few days."

Felix sighed before resting his arms on the desk in front of him. "Sure. What's up?"

You hadn't been expecting Felix to actually answer. "Have you ever met skeleton monsters? A... Brittle, Amalgam, and Composite."

Felix took several moments to answer. "No. There's not anybody named that Underground. I've met skeletons, sure, but nothing named after those."

You knew that Felix couldn't have forgotten the three's appearances, "What were the skeletons' names?"

"Papyrus is the tall one, Sans is the short one." Felix sighed. You paused. The three you had met were comprised of a smaller one and a taller one.

You were still visibly shaken, but you gave a weak smile. "Thank you anyways."

"No problem." Felix gave a sheepish grin.

You nodded and started heading towards the kitchen to start preparing to start. You had hoped to get an answer for what an Alphys was, but the other news had shocked you. _Me, not us_.That meant that half of Brittle was Sans and the other half Papyrus. But there were... three of them. Did that mean that there were three skeletons with the same name, or was this some weird sci-fi stuff you didn't understand?

* * *

After what felt like ages, the restaurant opened. Compared to the usual steady flow of customers, this was a slow day. The customers you did have were fairly normal, a few Karens sprinkled here and there who always wanted to talk to your manager, a few messy children who made you feel bad for the janitor, but other than that it was a fairly normal day. A blue fish monster and a yellow lizard monster came in towards the end of your shift. That was the most exciting part of your shift.

Not even making the dishes were a problem. Starfaits, Face Steaks, Glamburgers-- ones you didn't fill with inedible ingredients, you didn't want to be sued. You had memorised the recipes over years of working at the restaurant. It was essentially second nature. At the end of your shift, you clocked out and started to head out.

You knew Felix had bad anxiety when talking to people, so you were surprised when you heard his shaky voice from behind you. "Undyne and Alphys rarely eat here, right?" Felix asked you. "Wonder what the occasion is."

You were frozen in shock. "Undyne and... Alphys?"

"Yeah, they're a couple. Alphys was the Royal Scientist and Undyne was the Captain of the Royal Guard." Felix seemed to notice your shock. "Why? Anything happen? Undyne can be a bit aggressive, sure, but don't hold that against her--"

"Uh, nothin'. Don't worry about it." You hastily replied. You didn't want Felix to worry about you, but you knew you were doing a terrible job at it. You now had all the information you needed, and if the skeletons in the woods wanted you to, you could very well report Alphys and 'science man' to the authorities. "See you tomorrow, Felix."

The automatic door slid open and closed behind you with a soft click. You knew the bus ride would be long and you had plenty of time to think over the options, but you didn't want to. You've had more headaches today than you usually have in a week, you desperately needed some coffee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felix: I'm a mysterious receptionist host guy. I'm a mystery. I'm the biggest mystery you'll ever meet.  
> MC: I have some questions.  
> Felix: Sure. What's up?
> 
> The real summary of the chapter right there.


	4. Breaks and Body

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You go to Grillby's for a relaxing break, return to the woods and meet a creature with less than peaceful intentions.

The door of the small restaurant opened with a soft chime. You walked in, already knowing what to order. A crowd of interesting characters-- mostly monsters, some humans stared at you as you entered. The fire monster, Grillby, at the other end of the counter gave a wave. A red birdlike monster was talking to a familiar-looking skeleton, though he wasn't melting. A rabbit who was very clearly drunk was chatting to a group of... _dogs_? Bipedal dogs. You felt a desire to pet every dog in the group, but chose not to. You desperately required coffee, but chose to also get a burger for yourself. After today, you needed edible food.

You walked to the front, unnerved by everybody's stares. "Hey, uh... Can I have a coffee and a hamburger?" You asked, nervous.

"...One lump or two?" Grillby asked. One lump of-- oh, right. It was sugar. "Cheese on the burger?"

"I'll take two, please. Yes on the... uh, cheese." You gave a faint smile, and Grillby nodded. You didn't exactly like talking to new people. There were so many ways to mess up, so many ways to offend anybody. "Thank you."

Grillby didn't say anything, only heading to the back with an unreadable expression on his face. You chose to sit down near the counter. You saw the familiar skeleton looking at you. You decided to make conversation. "Hey, uh... You look familiar."

"i do?" He replied, surprised.

"Yeah, uh, a friend of mine's a skeleton with flesh." You attempted to break the tension with a bad joke. You got a hearty chuckle in reply.

"yeah, there's a lot of those. _tibia_ honest, it's kind of _humerus_ how many skeletons look like me." Did he just? He _did_. He _did._ That was terrible! You groaned, letting out a soft laugh.

"So, uh, what's your name?" You asked, you felt guilty for not asking sooner.

The skeleton paused for a minute, staring at you. After a few moments, he winked at you and held his hand in front of him. "i'm sans. sans the skeleton."

You shook his hand, only to recoil in surprise at a strange sound. "A whoopie cushion? Really?"

"what can i say, the classics never die." He shrugged. You laughed openly, only to be stopped as Grillby placed a bag and a closed cup-- likely your food if how close it was to you was anything to go off of-- on the counter.

"Thanks, Grillby. How much'll that be?" You asked, pulling your wallet from your pocket. He fiddled with the register for a second.

"2G." The fire monster said in reply. You converted it in your head and paid, giving a bit extra as a tip. The value of gold had decreased drastically after monsters went back to the surface, only a few days passed before you could hardly give gold away.

"Thank you, have a great day!" You smiled at Grillby. You took your coffee and bag and left the building.

The cornerside market was a lot easier. It was only until you got to the counter that something interesting actually happened. "Wait. Felix, you _work_ here?"

"Yeah, little buddy, you know the restaurant doesn't pay that much." He grinned at you. "Toffees? A pound of 'em? Halloween's not for another eight months, right?"

"A friend really likes 'em." You chuckled. "Like, he eats them _with the wrappers on_. He likes them that much."

"Really? Cool. That'll be 3G." You were really starting to wonder how everybody knew you preferred the G system more than other systems. Was it just nature? Was there something about you that screamed that you use the G system? You paid much more than you should've. You knew how broke Felix was, you knew how much he saved every penny. He thanked you frantically on the way out.

* * *

On the walk home, you noticed a contraption. Likely a puzzle if Composite's conversations were to go off of. Consisting of a loose tripwire and some haphazardly placed tiles, it barely looked functional. For the fun of it, you tripped the wire. The tiles flashed in several colours for different intervals of time, almost as if it were morse code. You pulled out your notepad. "Short short, short short long short, short short long ..." You tried to write it all down.

Eventually, you ended up with a general idea of what the message was. "If u ca n read human do not enter home. Bad man here. He eats human. He leave at seven." The message was sort of ominous. If it were to be believed, that would mean that whoever the 'bad man' was _ate_ humans, but in just a few hours the person would leave. You weren't hoping to be on the menu.

You should really have a hiding spot, if whoever it was found you, it probably wouldn't go well. You searched for one, careful not to stray too far from the path. Who knew just how deep these woods went? After just a few minutes, you found something. A rundown shelter, primarily made of sticks and grasses. Nice place to stay, just for a few hours.

Just for a few hours, you told yourself. You'd leave after. Just for a few hours.

* * *

You awoke to groaning. Loud groaning. Your back ached from lying on the ground for so long. You prepared to leave the small hut, but you were stopped by the intimidating silhouette of a figure. That didn't make sense, considering it was still broad daylight. "Amalgam? Is that you? What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?" You asked, worried.

The silhouette stepped into view. You could recognise it as Amalgam at a glance, but it looked _wrong._ The taller form had crooked teeth-- though it was hard to tell with all the melting-- and shrunken eyesockets. Its clothes were a faded colour, armour more worn down and ruined. The shorter form had a strained grin, a crimson light inside a melting socket stared you down. A corner of his skull looked more solid than the rest of him, it had a jagged hole in it. "straight to number five." The smaller whispered.

"NO, THAT'S RISKY! NORMAL PUZZLES!" The taller seemed to be angry and _loud_. Louder than any voice you've ever head. The smaller winced.

"puzzle?" The other asked, only for the larger to nod with such enthusiasm you were certain that droplets of melted bone were flying off of the entity.

"PUZZ...LE." The entity confirmed. If the puzzles were anything like you had done earlier, you were genuinely excited. "HUMAN! PREPARE! WE... PUZZLE NOW!"

These guys didn't look so different than Amalgam, maybe Composite had been meaning someone else? Sure, the red stains on the shorter skeleton's shirt and the deranged look on the taller's face were intimidating, but you knew not to judge from appearance. That's what you told yourself as the creature carried you out of the shelter in its melting limbs towards something you had no idea of.

That's what you told yourself when you realised that the smaller huts surrounding the one you were in-- you hadn't noticed until this point-- were filled with slabs of rotting flesh. That's what you told yourself as the fear rose and your heart started beating faster. That's what you told yourself as you heard the hungry growls from the entity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder who this creature might be?


	5. Puzzling Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You partake in a fun game of hide and seek and Felix is a good friend.

A few minutes of being carried and you were sick and tired of this. A _very_ inconvenient fog was settling over the area as evening became night. "Set me down, please." You tried to sound polite, you didn't know what the skeletons were planning on doing to you and you didn't want to offend them.

"now?" The shorter shifted its head to look at the taller, and you realised just _how_ tall the entity was. The taller looked like he was going to collapse at any moment, he was very top-heavy, being over two metres tall. The shorter was a hell of a lot larger than Amalgam's shorter, you wondered how you possibly could've believed this... creature to be Amalgam.

"NOW." The taller confirmed. You had no clue what they were talking about, but you were surprised when the entity dropped you. You scrambled to your feet, prepared to run at any moment.

"...not puzzle, you run." The shorter explained to you, eyelight never losing focus on you. "count... thirty."

You understood, and in just a few seconds you were running. You heard the entity behind you let out a laugh, a harsh sound as if the creature had something in his throat. You heard him chanting on the second. "run. run. run." You followed his advice.

You tried to get your bearings, you needed to find the cabin, but you didn't. You scrambled up a tree, surprised you made it. "ready or not, ready or not, ready or not." The calls sent shivers down your spine. You heard the voice getting closer, still repeating the chilling phrase.

* * *

Eventually, you could've sworn the voice was right below you. You couldn't see anything through the fog, but a crimson light was one of the few things you could see. As if realising you could see it, it seemed to blink. "Oh my _god_." You whispered; you didn't want to die today. You had toffee you wanted to give Brittle, you had work tomorrow and you'd be damned if Felix had to do everything again, you had to call your parents. Wait... You had your phone on you. You could _call_ someone. You could call the authorities, and that's what you did.

You typed the number, though with the adrenaline coursing through your system you barely remembered it. "What's your emergency?" The operator asked calmly.

What do you _say_ in a situation like this? Could the creature even hear you? You felt the tree start to shake, the creature was ramming its body into the tree to shake you out. "Hey, uh, I'm being held... hostage, I think? Someone's trying to kill me. I'm in the... uh..." You whispered. What town was this again? "I'm in the Gora woods, I think. I don't know where I am."

"Okay, stay calm, we'll have someone over in a few minutes. Can you describe the location?" You didn't know how to respond.

"Uh, I'm in a tree. Trail's just across the street from Grillby's, uh... There's a lot of huts just off the trail, I'm about ten from that. There's a cabin about..." You tried to remember the direction you were walking while the sun was setting. "Twenty minutes south from here. Small, rundown, uh..."

"Alright, can you tell me your name?"

"I'm Y/N, uh... Y/N L/N." You stammered. The thudding against the tree was getting faster, the tree shaking more. The crimson light was staring you down, as if daring you to continue.

The operator said something muffled, you weren't sure what it was. "Okay, Y/N, I'm going to ask you to stay calm."

The next few minutes were a blur. You fell out of the tree with a loud thump, your breath taken right out of you. As your surroundings faded, you noticed other lights approaching. The creature was leaned over you, telling you something you couldn't understand before he melted away into just another pile of leftover snow on the ground and your surroundings melted away into an empty unconsciousness.

* * *

"Are you okay?" A voice managed to wake you. You sat up with a start, looking around frantically. Your surroundings were unfamiliar.

"Where am I?" You demanded, and you realised the person who had woken you up. Felix raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Hey, little buddy, you alright?" Felix's expression changed from one of amusement to worry. "The coppers found you on the ground. You looked pretty spooked."

"How did you... find me?"

Felix shrugged. "Walkin' back to my place, heard some commotion and saw some police cars, before I knew it I was in Gora and saw the cars headin' towards the woods. Followed 'em." You knew he wasn't telling the full story, but you didn't care. "Followed 'em for a while, saw you next to a pile of snow."

"Thanks, Felix, knew I could count on you. Where are we right now?" Felix looked confused at the question.

"Cabin, remember? Twenty minutes north of where I found you." Your brain went empty. North. There was a cabin _north_ of where you were, which meant...

"Who lives here?" Your voice was shaking but deliberate.

Felix's answer sent shivers down your spine. "Eh, mostly just Sans and his brother. Their cousins live here too."

Sans and... his brother. _"me but not me."_ You remembered, though you had no clue why that was something that would come up. "They have cousins?"

"Yeah, they're all pretty cool. Honestly had no idea there were that many skeletons. There's this guy who looks like Papyrus but with an orange jacket... He calls himself 'Honey' or something. There's Blue, energetic short dude." You couldn't help thinking of Composite. "Haven't met the others, but I already like the four of 'em."

"Little buddy? You alright?" Felix waved a hand in front of your face, snapping you out of your thoughts. "You're as pale as a ghost, you know? Hey, uh, I have a thing I have to do, you comfortable staying here for now?" He scratched at his ear.

You _weren't_ comfortable staying, but you knew Felix was busy and needed to get home. "Sure, and, uh... Thanks." You felt awkward.

"No prob, Bob." He snickered, leaving before you could say another word. "No sweat, Brett. Sounds like a plan, Stan." His voice faded as he left the room.

You couldn't sleep. You were in the house of someone you didn't know, and the jovial sounds from downstairs unnerved you. What were you going to do? Would you leave and face... whatever _else_ was in these woods, or would you stay and face the unknown? Both answers revolve around facing the unknown, but only one of them allowed you the chance to not catch hypothermia. You chose to stay, but only for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oi this man has a Tumblr now. Want some weird headcanons? Want some weirdness in general? Want some better and usually more frequent subpar content (TM)? Check out Names are Pretty Great


	6. Returning to (the) Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a skeleton is your Unconventional Uber (patent pending)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not proofread, very rushed.

You hadn't slept a wink last night. You were terrified out of your mind, your thoughts were unwanted and unneeded-- no matter how much you tried to forget about that _creature_ , a creature so unlike Amalgam that you felt horrible for mistaking the two, they hadn't left your head. A knock at the door startled you. You still felt uncomfortable staying at a stranger's house. "Who's there?"

"armageddon." A familiar voice greeted you. It was Sans, the skeleton monster you had met yesterday. You decided to play along.

"Armageddon who?" You genuinely didn't know how to respond.

Sans chuckled. "armageddon let me in already?" Sans opened the door, and you were shocked to see that his clothes hadn't changed at all.

You snickered. "Thanks... for, uh, letting me stay the night."

"no prob. 'sides, what kind of monster'd i be if i let you get _bodied_." Sans chuckled at his own pun, though you didn't get it. "want me to walk you back home?"

You didn't know how to respond, you didn't have an exact address. "Er... You don't... Have to, but, uh..." Your stomach growled despite your best attempts, and Sans chuckled.

"hungry, eh? fair. i'll get you a hotdog on the way."

"You don't have to-- sorry, uh... But what about the guy?" You stammered, you didn't know what to call the creature who had terrified you to the point you couldn't _sleep_. It felt like you were ten years old again, when you would be scared of a shadow across the room.

"don't worry, bucko. body's only out on tuesdays. patrol day, ya know? but the thing is... i kinda need to know where you want to go."

"Uh... Is this still the Gora woods? I'm bunking in a cabin just a few minutes out from Grillby's." After just a few moments, you noticed a spark of realisation in the skeleton's eyesockets.

"amalgam's place?" Sans asked carefully. "sure, i'll bring you there." Sans offered you his hand, and you shook it, expecting another whoopee cushion trick. To your surprise, the world seemed to slip away around you. It was like a tunnel, though there was no floor. You saw... things. You didn't know what they were, not even knowing if they were things in the first place. Things you could almost recognise, people you could almost recognise, _names_ you could almost recognise; you couldn't remember _any_ of them. It felt like an eternity before the world came back into view.

You stumbled, the sudden change disoriented you. To your surprise, Sans caught you. You got a good look at your surroundings. You were back at the other cabin. Sans knocked on the door, surprised to see an almost immediate answer. Brittle slid under the door, popping up into form and staring at Sans with what you could only assume to be a look of disgust. It's hard to tell, the guy _was_ melting. "Where was." The taller demanded. Sans raised both arms in surrender. Was Sans _scared_ of Brittle?

"remember body? body tried to hurt the human. body didn't hurt the human." Sans spoke slowly, sweat beading under Brittle's stare. "human is fine."

Brittle looked you over before noticing something. "Human not fine. Human hurt." Brittle pointed to a small bruise on your arm before his gaze was turned back to Sans, an expression of pure hatred etched clearly into its melting form. "Did... You hurt human?"

"no, no, brittle. human is fine. see?" Sans handed you the hotdog, shooting you a glance that said to eat it. You did, feeling a bit better.

"What was in that stuff?" You whispered. Sans shrugged.

"magic."

Brittle seemed happy that you weren't hurt, "Okay, Scien--" Sans quickly shushed the other, a phalange over his mouth. You did catch what little bit was said, as you turned to face Sans and ask what he meant, you noticed that he was gone. "Toffee?" Brittle faced you, hand outstretched. It took you a few moments to remember, you pulled a few pieces from your coat pocket. Brittle's eyesockets widened and despite his foul mood mere moments earlier, he happily ate it. Brittle actually took off the wrapper this time, though it did get stuck to his hands. "Thank!"

You smiled, Brittle let you inside the house. It looked the same as before, though each entity was surprised when you entered. "Human? Where?" Amalgam approached you first.

"I was with a friend, I'm sorry for being home so late." You smiled. "What have you all done today?"

Amalgam pulled a piece of paper that was crudely taped to the wall. "Puzzle!" The entity exclaimed. Amalgam was truly nothing like Body, truly nothing like the being who had chased you-- _taunted_ you. Amalgam noticed you shaking and rested a goopy phalange on your arm. "Puzzle." The entity handed you the paper. It looked... you didn't know what it was, but Amalgam seemed proud of it. A crudely labeled 'start' marked the beginning of several squiggly paths that looped on themselves and didn't connect to the 'end.' It was probably one of the choose-a-path puzzles that you'd probably find on the back of a cereal box. "Solve..?" Amalgam asked.

You looked at it for a solid minute. "Thank you for the puzzle! I'll solve it, uh, later." You didn't know how to solve a the puzzle, and unlike Composite's you were certain it lacked any meaning. Amalgam seemed satisfied, and you let out a breath you didn't know you had been holding.

You needed a good nap. As you climbed the stairs to the room you had been staying in, you noticed a long trail of slime that seemed to stop at 'your' room and loop back on itself. To be fair, there were far more slimy trails in the house than usual-- not all of them connected to the entities. You opened the door, not sure what to expect. Everything looked overturned. Was someone _searching_ for you? It was clearly one of the entities if the slime trails were anything to go off of. Fortunately for you, the bed was fine. After making the bed again, you laid down. The window outside overlooked the area, you could get a view of just how massive this forest was.

As you fell asleep, your fading consciousness noticed a dirty patch of snow that you swore wasn't there before; a faint red and greyish-blue around the edges. Just before you closed your eyes, you saw it shift.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically just fluffy friend stuffs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter than usual, not proofread.

You woke up a lot during the night. You could've sworn something was in the room with you, a cold draft from the open window that you swore was closed when you went to bed kept startling you. You felt like a child, scared of the shadows creeping across the room. The image of the horrific creature that had stalked you mere nights before still wouldn't leave your head. After what was probably the seventh time tonight, you decided to check the room-- just in case, you had told yourself. The room was still a mess from before, bedside table overturned and lamp shattered because you were too lazy to clean it all. You gripped the shattered lamp, though you knew it would be useless if you actually came in contact with the thing from before.

You checked under the bed first, there was a trail leading under it, but there was nobody there. You let out a breath you didn't know you had been holding. Checking the closet was no big deal, it was completely empty. You had a feeling these skeletons weren't able to find clothes that fit them. Something soft dripped on you from above, and you looked up.

"Oh my god." You whispered. There was a white mould covering most of the ceiling. Was it mould? Something told you it wasn't. You left the room as quickly as you could. Too many weird things have been going on ever since you 'met' Body for it to be only a coincidence. You only hoped he had stopped playing hide and seek with you. As you descended the steps, hoping that you wouldn't make any sound, you were left thinking about Sans. The skeleton seemed to know all four of the people you had met during your time in these woods.

Nobody was downstairs from what little you could see in the darkness. You checked your phone, surprised that it was only midnight. The witching hour; your subconscious reminded you, much to your irritation. You fumbled for a light switch, though you ended up finding a refrigerator. Your eyebrows raised in surprise when you opened it to find mostly edible foods. A half empty bottle of pop, some sandwiches, some fruits, a few bottles of honey and some other condiments. Most of the things were ingredients, but you helped yourself to a sandwich-- you made sure the bag was unnamed-- and chuckled as you tried to guess what it was in the dark. You could taste the bitter taste of pickles, some cheese, a meat of some sort and definitely some sort of condiment in between the two pieces of rye. It was half decent-- whether it was your exhaustion talking or it was genuinely that good was unclear.

After a few minutes, you headed towards the couch and fell asleep, empty sandwich bag still in your hands.

You awoke to the sound of sizzling, the smell was undescribable. Were the skeletons cooking again? Your back was throbbing in protest as you stood up and looked towards the kitchen. Amalgam was making _something_ in a pan, though you couldn't see it. It smelled like burnt pasta. You walked towards the kitchen, trying to keep yourself from gagging as the smell got worse. "What'cha making, Amalgam?" You yawned, trying to blink yourself awake.

"Spa... ghetti." The taller seemed to have trouble saying long words. The shorter seemed to disagree with him, pulling some stale hot dog buns off of the counter and placing them in the pan.

"hot dog." The shorter protested.

"Ghetti!" The taller whined.

The shorter crossed one arm over his chest. "hot dog!"

The two continued to bicker as you turned around and sat back down on the couch. It seemed Composite wanted to join you, as when he snuck downstairs and slithered towards the couch, you felt the couch shift. "human? brittle told about body. you... okay?" You weren't expecting the skeleton to speak.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little spooked." You replied honestly.

The taller nodded, the shorter only turned his head to look at you. Now that you were back here and safe, you could ask the remaining questions that had been on your mind from the very beginning. "Composite?" You asked. The other turned to look at you.

Composite let a grunt of affirmation. "Where are you all from?"

The other looked away. "Here but not here. Gone, never to be found. Machine." You pulled the notepad out of your pocket-- yes, you had slept with your clothes on, you do it all the time-- and wrote the information down. "machine pulled. ripped. stuck." Composite sighed, form slouching and dripping onto itself more than usual.

"Do you know who did this to you?" You mostly just wanted confirmation on this part. You suspected it was Alphys, but you had no claims on either end.

"sits upon a throne of lies, yet none can see the true secrets that she hides... doctor, I don't feel so well." The taller answered. You scribbled down the answer. "six letters, but many more left unread." The skeleton's orange jacket seemed to be melting into the couch.

Were all of these skeletons cryptic? You had no idea. You'd solve the riddles later. "Do you know the science man?"

Composite did not respond. You took that as an answer and nodded. "You know, I'm really proud of you. I know you weren't like this from the start and that talking about it might be difficult--"

Composite pulled you into a warm, sticky embrace. You let out a squeak of surprise, dropping your notepad onto the floor below you with a soft thud. You hugged him back, you didn't care if he was sticky. You just wanted to be there for your friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It seems Brittle's not the only one with answers.


	8. Moving Migration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you finish moving all of your stuff with the help of Generic Friend Character (TM) and make a shocking discovery.

Another day of work had ended. Thank _God_ it was almost the weekend. You needed some rest, but you had something to do first. You were going to move what little belongings you had left at your place to the cabin. Fortunately, it wasn't anything much. Only a lamp, chair, and small desk. You had called up a friend to help you bring the furniture to the cabin and he was more than happy to help.

"Alright. You sure that's all you have in your apartment?" Robert had asked. You nodded. "Okay, if you're sure that's all you had."

"I'm sure."

The drive to the woods was very long and very tense. You hadn't told Rob about your roommates but the worry had only arisen as the car crept through the forest. You were on the lookout for Body, but it seemed he was staying away. Every now and then you'd see a large red berry, a patch of snow or a weirdly shaped log that resembled some of Body's features, but beyond that you had no definitive proof he was still following you.

Robert seemed to notice just how tense you were, as he cleared his throat. "Are you alright?" His question snapped you out of your thoughts.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if my roommates were home." You blurted with a tad too much a panicked tone. Robert raised a brow.

"You have roommates?" He wasn't too persistent or nosy in his questioning, and that was good.

You nodded. "Yeah, they're pretty cool. They're a bit jumpy but they're alright."

Rob only nodded, car sliding to a stop. "This the place?"

You made sure to check if it was. The last thing you wanted was to show up at the wrong place, but from what you could see it was the right location. "Yep."

Getting all of the belongings inside the cabin was a lot faster than transporting them all. Robert helped you get the things out of the car and outside the front door before he left. As you were going to get the chair, Amalgam stopped you. "...Help?" The larger asked, his form literally melting around the chair.

That would've been useful for the desk earlier, but it was still very thoughtful and you were extremely thankful. "Sure! Thank you so much." You smiled. Amalgam's taller form only nodded, before lumbering towards the door. The chair, partially enveloped by Amalgam's form, was heavier than it looked, a dark brown wood that you didn't quite remember the name of made the frame; grey cushion and back were being stained by Amalgam's shifting semisolid form. As the skeletal creature entered the cabin, you directed him to where it should go in the living room.

You thanked Amalgam again, the other shifted as the shorter entity pointed at it and moved towards it. You had intended for the chair to be a gift for the skeletons-- a way to thank them for letting you stay at their place.

The lamp was extremely light, but it was about your size. A rather convenient shape to say the least, the lamp's shape was _just_ bigger than you. It was a gift from a neighbour from when you first moved into your old place. Even after all these years, it was still barely bigger than you. Either you weren't growing at all or the lamp was growing with you, and considering just how short you were you chose to believe the first one. You sat it on the floor. It was a tad too tall to be placed on the desk.

Amalgam was rocking in the chair, though the chair wasn't meant to rock. You sat on the couch, trying to ease the pain in your legs and back. "Hey, Amalgam?"

His two faces looked through you. "yes?"

"Do you know why all of you look so similar? I know it has something to do with a machine and a science man, but I'd like to know what the machine does." You spoke slowly, trying to make sure Amalgam could hear you clearly.

Amalgam paused. The shorter's eyesocket stopped melting for just a second, grin still frozen in place. "pulled, stretched, _dragged_. stuck. science man bad. stuck here, can't go back. want home. want home." The skeleton hissed. "want home. stuck here. can't leave. machine broke."

So the machine dragged Amalgam from wherever he was and now he's _stuck_ somewhere? And now the machine was broken? You noticed your notepad was still on the floor from before, you grabbed it and scribbled down the answers, setting it down on the couch as Amalgam stood up and ambled towards you, arms outstretched for a hug. You hugged the skeleton back, he was rather chilly.

"Do you know why you ended up the way you did?"

"all lies perpetuated. hear you soon." Once again, the answer was Alphys. "pap injured. lab. needles, needles... dust. red. hug, melting spread." The smaller gurgled, as if his throat was full of phlegm. Those answers were new, startling, but the thing that startled you the most was when Amalgam practically melted into you. Despite how he had felt before, the skeleton was _colder_. You shivered as the skeleton repeated your thoughts. "so cold. so cold."

Amalgam had completely enveloped you. You couldn't _breathe_ , but you could hear each ragged breath of the entities. A knock on the door startled the two of you, Amalgam slid through you and towards the door as the knocking began again.

"Science man here for refill? Dee... Tea." You didn't understand what the skeleton had said. "Human... Hide."

You took the other's advice, trying your best to find a hiding spot. You found a closet underneath the stairs and shoved yourself into it, not caring about the musty smell or the dripping from above as you peeked through the crack in the door. "Science man?"

You nearly vomited as you saw who 'science man' was. It was Sans, the skeleton from before, but something about him was different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MC: Everybody gets hugs!  
> Science man:  
> Body:  
> MC: No.


	9. Going to Grillby's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not proofread, a planned chapter.

Sure, the skeleton _looked_ like Sans, but he certainly wasn't. He was wearing a black jacket with a fluffier lining than Sans did, a gold tooth flashed dangerously as his red eyelights looked over the room.

"You... Not science man?" Amalgam's taller form mumbled. "knock knock knock knock..." The shorter form repeated as the larger form stamped his foot indignantly.

"ya seen th' freak? body or wat's his face?" The not-Sans inquired, opening a small black bag he had slung over his shoulder; pulling out several needles and two biscuits.

Amalgam paused, both forms staring at the cookie. "okay, i'm going ta need ya ta stay still fer a minute." The not-Sans stammered. Was he afraid of Amalgam? The syringe was filled with a viscous red fluid, and the skeleton injected the entity, fluid draining from the syringe. Amalgam let out a cry of distress before his form solidified-- if only for a moment. "there we go, dat wasn't too hard, now was it? now ya git th' cookie."

The shorter form snatched the cookie from the skeleton's hand, the taller form letting out a whine of protest. The dark-clad skeleton-- only now did you realise he looked a lot like Brittle's shorter form-- handed the other cookie, and the shorter ate it again. "more?" He whispered.

"nope, i _needle_ find th' others. if there's any left, sure." The skeleton gave a sheepish grin, approaching the staircase. You let out a sigh of relief, he didn't spot you. You were left in your thoughts. What exactly _was_ DT? Why was it being injected into your friends? Who was this not-Sans? Why did he look so similar to both Sans and Brittle, why was he giving the others cookies as a reward? You didn't _have_ an answer. After a few minutes, the dark skeleton returned downstairs. "sorry, amalgam, i'll give ya more cookies next week, alright?" The Sans chuckled, but his gaze caught something. His eyelights widened in shock as he looked at the lamp. He snuck towards it, only to look behind it at the last moment. "nothin', eh? convenient lamp, where'd ya git it?"

Amalgam still stood in place, not speaking, "fine, fine, i know ya amalgamates're weird."

The darker Sans left the cabin, slamming the door with a thud. After a few seconds, the larger form spoke. "Human? Red gone."

You nodded, exiting the closet. Was the not-Sans named Red? That's an interesting nickname. "What... Was Red doing?" You asked, staring at the door.

"injection. keeps us... solid." Amalgam's shorter form rotated its head towards you like something you'd see in a horror movie. "determination." The skeleton elaborated.

"What is Determination?" You now knew that DT was Determination-- an abbreviation you hadn't known until now-- but you didn't know what it was or how it could possibly keep Amalgam 'solid'. Though did look a bit more solid, less like he was barely being held together and more like a melting snowman.

"humans. human has dt. soul but not magic." The shorter explained, "monster can't has dt or will melt... we can. keeps us together, keeps us from more goop."

You had heard a bit about SOULs and how drastically Magic and Determination differed, but certainly not enough to understand fully. Until now, you had no clue that monsters melt when exposed to Determination, but it was surprising that Amalgam and the others required DT to avoid further melting. You felt a bit bad for thinking bad of Sans if he was trying to keep the others alive, but the other's actions were still confusing. You decided to hold off on your judgments for now. "How do you feel about the needles?"

"needle caused problem, needle solves problem." Amalgam's shorter form answered. "Needle okay." The taller nodded. At least they were alright with the injections. You smiled.

"Okay, if you say so." You wanted to ask about Red, about why he was here and why he looked like Sans, but you decided to file it away in your endless questions. "Do you want to... go to Grillby's?"

Amalgam had very contradictory reactions. The larger whined in distress while the smaller nodded eagerly. Sure, Amalgam and the others took a while to get used to, but you weren't one to back down on a suggestion. The other skeletons seemingly appeared out of nowhere at the mention of the fire monster's bar and grill; some of the skeletons let out groans and some seemed more than ecstatic.

You were regretting your decision the second you left the forest. You doubted the skeletons had ever left the forest, much less seen the town. Amalgam was surprised to see concrete, as if he had never seen it in his life. Brittle nearly walked in front of an oncoming car and Composite was sitting at the curb and messing with some asphalt. You had to make sure they didn't hurt themselves or accidentally cause a car crash, you watched them carefully as you led them across the street towards the ever-popular establishment. 

"grillby's?" Brittle's smaller form mumbled.

You nodded. "Yep, this is Grillby's!"

Amalgam's taller form scrunched his face together, "Yuck! Grease!" Despite Amalgam's exclamation, Composite's taller form seemed not to care. Each and every one of the shorter entities looked like they'd cry from happiness at any second. With a chuckle, you opened the door. The bell above chimed as your group entered the small establishment.


	10. A Recipe for Disaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you finally discover the science man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter than usual, computer crashed in the middle of writing again.

The temperature difference between Grillby's bar and the outside was always shocking, but from the amount of sweat pouring like waterfalls from your skin you could hardly feel a change in temperature. The second you entered the establishment, you could see just how many eyes were on your friends. A few dogs were in the corner, staring intensely at your group, a very clearly intoxicated rabbit was trying not to stare, even the bartender's calm demeanour faltered. Composite approached the counter, both forms staring at the menu carefully. "burger?" The taller pointed, the other nodding in confirmation. Grillby's flamed flickered ever so slightly, before he nodded towards the rest of your friends. You headed towards the counter, your friends in close pursuit.

"Amalgam? What would you like to eat?" You turned your head towards him, he was currently staring at Grillby, the smaller form laughing.

"ketch..." The shorter pointed to a red bottle, "for buy?"

You turned your attention back to the bartender, "Is the ketchup for sale?"

"... On the house." Grillby looked at the other, a pained expression on his face. "...What happened to them?"

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. Something weird." You tilted your head. "Brittle, what do you want?"

"Wine?" The taller spoke, the shorter nodding in return. You felt a tad awkward giving Brittle alcohol-- you had no clue of his age and you had no clue of the effects a drink would have on this skeleton, but you weren't going to turn him down. Everybody had their vices.

"Can we have a burger, some chips, ketchup and some of your... least alcoholic wine?" You requested, Grillby only nodded, heading to the till as you pulled out your wallet. After you paid, the fire monster walked towards the back. You looked around to make sure that your friends hadn't wandered off somewhere, surprised to see that all of them were relatively calm, Amalgam was chatting with Composite and Brittle was still staring at the menu.

* * *

Turns out that Brittle's... interesting when he's drunk. The skeleton was reduced a giggling, bubbling puddle. Grillby had assured you that it was the weakest stuff he had, so that meant that the skeleton reacted to alcohol. You felt something wet brush your leg. "hey... sweet? you good human. nice human."

You didn't know how to react. This was the seventh time in the past hour that Brittle had done that, he seemed not to understand your reactions. Composite was trying to split the burger completely in half, and you could've sworn the skeleton was counting individual _molecules_. It seemed Amalgam was staring at the ketchup, the smaller occasionally trying to grab it at the dismay of the taller. Brittle groaned from under the table, solidifying and completely engulfing your ankles. He seemed to be scared of something as he stopped bubbling for just a second. "science man?"

It was then that the door opened, and you saw Sans with an expression you could never have guessed the laidback skeleton was able to make. A mixture of a grimace and a look of shock, Sans was certainly panicking. "a _combination_ of events i wasn't expecting."

The patrons roared in laughter, most of your group was either frustrated or amused, Brittle was still mumbling to himself under the table. Sans gave soft smile, Grillby sliding a ketchup bottle across the counter for the skeleton as he took it. "thanks, grillbs. i'll pay for it later." The skeleton approached your table, Amalgam resting a trembling hand on your shoulder defensively. Composite stopped tearing at his burger long enough to stare at Sans. "mind if i join you?" Sans asked you. You didn't know why the other skeletons seemed to nervous around Sans.

"science man bad." Amalgam whispered. "bad man stay away."

You shook your head, and Sans seemed to understand. He sat a table away, the other skeletons seemed fine with that. "So... Are you the mysterious science man I've been hearing about?" You joked. Sans' eyesockets vanished, before he nodded.

"yep." He chuckled nervously, looking away. You felt anger bubbling up, but you forced it back. You had questions, and you wanted them answered in the most logical way possible.

* * *

"Do you mind if I ask you some things?" You raised a brow as Sans shrugged. You weren't expecting it to be this easy, you were expecting _some_ resistance on his end, some amount of defensiveness, but the skeleton kept his cool.

"when we get back. we skeletons keep secrets to the _grave_." The skeleton sighed. "i'd tell you an anatomy joke, but i just don't have the heart. all the good ones organ."

You snickered, the customers laughed. Amalgam's grip on your shoulder tightened.

"i'd walk you back, but it looks like you're in a sticky situation." Sans gestured towards Brittle, who immediately slid away from even you, the skeletal entities solidifying enough to be a proper form instead of just a puddle on the floor. "howzit goin', by the by?"

"Pretty good. Just finished moving in some new furniture."

"so that's what r-- helvetica was talking about." Sans mumbled. You didn't know anybody named Helvetica, but you weren't about to ask-- Sans had said that later was the time to ask questions. " _sofa_ so good." He laughed at his own joke, his voice was so quiet and so shaky that very few people actually heard it. In the few short minutes that Sans had been there, Amalgam had completely downed the ketchup, Composite had finished his burger and Brittle seemed to be... slightly more sober. You offered the rest of your chips to Sans, the skeleton gladly accepting.

"Wanna head back?" You tilted your head.

Sans nodded, standing up. "i know a shortcut." Was Sans going to do some of that weird spacetime bullshit again? Almost as if out of instinct, each of the skeletons held onto Sans for dear life as the world once again faded into nothingness. The memories of last time still haunted you, so you closed your eyes again. It was peaceful, the whispering voices of what could only assume were fragments of something larger did not bother you, the silhouettes of strange figures never showed and it felt as if it was only a second. You opened your eyes after Sans cleared his throat, you felt embarrassed as you saw that you were clinging onto the skeleton for dear life. You let go, trying to take a step only to feel the world spin. You felt yourself falling but instead of hitting dirt, wood or stone you landed on a soft chair. _The one you brought_ _in_ , you reminded yourself. You looked around, you were back at the cabin.

The skeleton let out a shaking breath. "so, kiddo? heard you got some questions."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;]


	11. Downer Expounder and Outré Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you get some answers and more questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely a rushed chapter.

Sans chuckled, the noise clearly faked. "alright, so what do you want to know first?" You pulled out your notebook, searching each page with deliberation.

"What does Alphys have to do with all of this?" You heard Sans gulp, he was sweating and looked practically horrified.

The skeleton sighed. "these guys were part of a set of experiments." You felt he was only telling parts of the truth, but anything was better. "monsters can't maintain their form when they have determination, they start to... well, you know by now. alphys asked for monsters who fell down, and..."

You noticed that you didn't get a complete answer, but that was enough for now. "Brittle said something about a machine-- actually, all of them did. What's that got to do with why they're here?"

"i was messing around with something, apparently it dragged other skeletons from wherever they were." Sans' grin was strained, it looked more like a grimace, his eyesockets staring and empty as a void.

"Are you saying there's others?"

The skeleton choked, "what? i.. i didn't say that!" You scribbled down the answers thus far, and continued your questioning once Sans regained his composure. "sorry, sorry."

* * *

You tilted your head. "Why do all three of them look so similar?"

"oh boy."

You repeated the question.

"we're related."

Once again, you repeated the question, urgency in your voice. "we're _related_! it's nothing important, stop asking." The skeleton snapped.

You had never heard Sans this angry. "What is up with that... thing in the woods?"

The skeleton had stopped moving entirely, "body? he's weird."

"Weird how?"

Sans' cheery persona returned, an air of tension still in the conversation, "he left this cabin a few years ago, we've been trying to find him ever since. body hunts both inside and outside the woods. that's probably why you've heard rumours."

You raised a brow. Rumours? What did that mean? Nevertheless, you wrote down the answers. "body's from an... interesting civilisation. his people were quite primitive, hunter-gatherer situation. not much food, so he stockpiles on what he can."

"Why are the others confused about life outside the woods?"

"they rarely leave. not much need to." That still didn't explain how confused they were by cars, concrete and other people, but that was a good enough answer for now. You were exhausted, you just needed a bit of sleep.

"Sans... I'm sorry for not trusting you before."

"heh, no _bones_ about it. some _body_ 's gotta look out for them. it's going _tibia_ fine." You snickered at his puns, Sans was back to his easygoing attitude as if the entire conversation hadn't happened. You liked that about him, even if he was unpredictable he was usually a relaxing presence. "but nah, i understand. see ya whenever." Before you could reply, he disappeared.

* * *

Amalgam inched towards you, likely sensing your unease as he rested a hand on your shoulder, mumbling to himself. Brittle remained in place, staring out the window at something in the distance as Composite melted into the couch, he was speaking in riddles again, words slurring together as he spoke. "a blend of personality, clues can be linked. in but a fractured reality... worlds indistinct... shift in perspective, another view... only when morality subjective will answer be true." You raised a brow, he didn't normally speak in riddles but you thought it important, you scribbled down what he said before he abruptly stopped, snoring indicating that he had fell asleep.

Amalgam's mumbling quickly became distressed wailing as something slammed against the glass of the window. Brittle backed away towards you as you could clearly see what had slammed into the window-- or rather, _who_.

The creature pressed up against the window, faces squishing as he did was a lot like the others, still being a combination of two skeletons, but these two closely resembled Composite. The two skeletons looked very... purple. Or, at least, one of them did. The taller was once again a support, he had a black hoodie with a yellow inside-- the two colours mixed as it melted, forming a rather unsightly mess. A gold tooth was flashing dangerously as both eyesockets melted into his mouth. He looked similar to Brittle's taller form, as if Composite's and Brittle's had mixed to form him. He was clutching onto the smaller for dear life, his scrawny legs shook in either fear or excitement as his brown trousers clung to his form.

The smaller of the two had the general appearance of Composite's smaller form. Instead of the blue colour the other seemed fond of, this one's clothing could only be described as purple. Very, very purple. His trousers were black with indigo stripes running down, and his purple bandanna and shirt matched perfectly with his short, violet boots. The two entities stared through the window, watching your every move as Brittle hissed at the other. Whoever it was moved away from the window after a few minutes, and you let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

That had been several hours ago. You now sat in your bed, scribbling down theories, notes, questions and the like as you tried your damndest to figure out what the fuck any of the events today meant. The first rays of sunlight filtered through the window; you had stayed up far longer than you had hoped. You hadn't slept a wink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if Reader can figure it out?
> 
> "A blend of personality, clues can be linked  
> In but a fractured reality, worlds indistinct.  
> A shift in perspective, another view.  
> Only when morality subjective will the answer be true."


	12. Jinks Jinx Hijinks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you have some bad luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely later than it's supposed to be. Not proofread.

You swore you had some kind of bad luck today. You had stubbed your toe six times in the first twenty minutes after you left the bed. You had accidentally cracked the cabin's mirror-- to be fair, it was in terrible condition beforehand-- but that was usually considered a bad thing. Several ravens had perched on a tree just outside the front door. You weren't a superstitious person in the slightest, but you had a feeling something was off. Before you left, Brittle had stopped you. "Stay?" The larger half pouted.

"No, Brittle, I have to head to work." You gave a faint smile, wincing as the other let out a screech of distress.

Brittle's lower form pointed to you in confusion, "Stay?"

"I can't stay, buddy, you know that." Brittle melted away into the walls and you sighed. You wanted to stay, but you knew that Felix couldn't handle working all by himself. 

You could've sworn a very large black cat crossed your path as you left the forest. You snorted, it was probably just a coincidence. A really, really bad day; that's all it was. You had thoroughly convinced yourself of that as you sat at the bus stop, waiting for it to arrive. Sure, this was a lot of bad things happening at one time. Sure, the bus was running late. But that's nothing unlucky. It'd get better sooner or later, after all. Finally, the bus arrived at your stop and you boarded it. The first few beams of light flickered through the windows as you took the opportunity to try and catch up on sleep.

* * *

You checked far more times than usual to make sure you weren't walking into anything dangerous. You forgot to look down, however, and tripped over your untied shoelaces. "That was intentional!" You exclaimed, a tad bit embarrassed. Your leg stung as you stood, you must've scraped it. You let out a sigh of relief as you crossed the street without anything else happening. Just being paranoid, nothing bad can really happen, you told yourself.

A loud crash made you turn around sharply. A flowerpot had shattered on the ground behind you, now just a mess. The ceramic twisted and broken like glass, clumps of dirt spilled out like water from a cup. if you hadn't moved out of the way... you stopped thinking about it. You were starting to get freaked out, especially when the _same thing_ happened twice more before you scrambled to the relative safety of your workplace. You let out a sigh of relief, today was certainly interesting. Fortunately, it was Friday and you only had to do this once more this week.

Entering the establishment was usually a relaxing feeling, a way to get away from your current situations, but now you felt a sense of dread as the bell above the door rang. Felix greeted you on the way in. "You look a tad more stressed than usual, little buddy. What's up?" Felix scratched at his ear. Damn his perceptiveness!

"Eh, not much. Just a string of really unfortunate coincidences." You replied. "Bad luck."

Felix nodded, "Yeah? Stay clear of ladders, mate." He chuckled, you rolled your eyes. "But seriously, bad luck is definitely somethin' to be afraid of. You gotta be careful unless you want to live with it." Great thing for him to say, of course. Really helped ease your paranoia, didn't it? You chuckled, heading back to the back end of the restaurant to begin preparing and getting ready to start another day.

* * *

Work was quite normal. It proved your point about the earlier events. Just a coincidence. Several coincidences. Of course, the restaurant's calendar did list it as Friday the thirteenth, but that was superstition. You winced as your hand stung, you had burnt yourself while distracted by thoughts. You hadn't had any major accidents, but a sketchy cloaked figure had stuck around from the very beginning of your shift. They had a brown cloaked draped over their form, it had the general appearance of two children in a trenchcoat but it certainly looked like an adult-- a very hunched, twitching adult-- You raised a brow as they stared at you, you had no clue what their reasons were and you doubted you wanted to stick around to find out. It was nearing the end of your shift and you were about ready to head out. You really needed a drink and Grillby's was close.

You started to leave, noticing the figure standing up, praying that they weren't following you. It's just another coincidence, everything today had an explanation. You waited at the bus stop, the cloaked figure sat down with you, and you felt your heartbeat quicken. You looked at the person, and you noticed something. It looked almost like a friend of yours. "Brittle? Is that you?"

The cloaked figure only nodded in response. "What are you doing here? How did you know where I worked?"

"followed!" A muffled voice spoke, likely the smaller if the harsh tone was anything to go off of. "you not stay, so i tried help you... go back."

"How did you try to get me to go back?" You raised a brow.

"sneaky!" The shorter form laughed.

You tipped your head, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"watch?"

You felt your shoelaces wiggle, you looked down only to notice your shoelaces wiggling like a caught snake. Was that magic? You gasped, you didn't even know these skeletons capable of magic. A soft chuckle escaped your mouth, it was hard to stay mad at these rascals. "I didn't know you could use magic!" You enthused, Brittle's taller form tilting his head.

"Magic good?" The larger skeleton asked, you nodded. 

"It's so awesome!" Brittle rested both heads on your shoulder, you shuddered at the sudden cold. "Were you following me all day?"

The shorter shook his head, "no." He snapped, "not follow all day, just most."

You needed to have a talk about that, but you were too exhausted. You only gave a small smile. "Did you do anything else today?"

"flowers!" Brittle was still completely hidden in his cloak, but you noticed the fabric starting to drip. He pointed at the remains of a shattered flowerpot, one of the ones that had fallen earlier today.

"Really now? You're quite mischievous." It was then the bus showed up. Brittle had said something, but you didn't hear him over the roaring of the engine. The skeleton approached the bus, you paid fare for both you and him much to the skeleton's confusion. "You ever ride the bus before?" You asked him, leading him to a decent seat.

He looked rather confused. "bus?" Brittle looked out the window, holding a dripping phalange to it. He seemed confused by his own reflection.

"Yep, it's what I use to get to work and to your place." You nodded, he turned back to you before tapping your leg, sending a small zap of pain through you. You winced and he shrunk backwards.

The taller figure let out a growl of distress before he spoke, "I wanted you stay, not hurt."

"No, it's not your fault, buddy. I should've seen where I was going." You rested a hand on Brittle's 'shoulder'-- you couldn't call it a shoulder, it was technically the larger entity's shoulder but it wasn't connected to the shorter in the slightest. The cloak that he was wearing was starting to drip and stuck to you as "I'm just glad it wasn't bad luck."

"Bad luck?"

You nodded, "Yeah, it's a bunch of superstition that humans have. People say that some events cause bad things. Breaking a mirror, ravens, Friday the thirteenth..." You rambled, Brittle looked more confused every second. You swore Brittle was going to ask some question you had no answer to; instead, you almost chuckled as he asked the most innocent question you've ever heard him ask.

"you broke mirror?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Main Character: So I nearly got hit in the head with three flowerpots today. Any idea how that happened?  
> Brittle: Yes. Hey, on an unrelated note do you want to see some magic?  
> MC: Okay, sure.
> 
> How it happened, filler chapter edition.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Saint Patrick's Day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for just how late this chapter was and how disjointed it is from usual. Some things have been going on, but chapters should be back to similar schedule within the next week.

The second you descended the stairs, you knew something was wrong. The skeletons were completely gone. No droning of them talking among themselves, no smell of burning pasta. For a second, you thought it was a different cabin, or maybe they were playing tricks on you? All of the skeletons had shown themselves to be tricksters on occasion, so you knew it was that. Especially considering how close it was to April Fools' Day, despite it technically being Saint Patrick's. "Very funny, guys." You called out to no response.

No matter, you'd just start working on breakfast. You wanted to repay all of them for their hospitality, and what better way to do that than with a hearty breakfast? You approached the kitchen, wondering what you'd make; the fridge wasn't stocked that much last you checked. Opening it proved your point, it only had a few ingredients. Eggs perfectly balanced on top of each other and a plastic container of what you could only assume to be whatever nightmarish amalgamation of food they usually made. You decided to make some scrambled eggs.

Of course, finding a clean enough pan to cook the eggs on was a challenge in and of itself. The cupboard was stuffed with an impossibly large amount of dirty dishes, pans, pots, and utensils. A thick, green mould had started growing on some of it-- the stench was enough to make you gag. You'd have to do the dishes later. Regardless, you found a pan that wasn't covered in rancid food. It was clean enough.

It really made you wonder how long this cabin had housed the skeletons; how long the cabin was abandoned before they even arrived. Surely this couldn't have happened in just the time they've been here. The silence was almost deafening-- save for the few crackles of the stovetop and the eggs. It was funny that even though you had originally planned on the cabin being empty, you had grown fond of the skeletons. You knew it was a prank, but it still felt odd.

* * *

You noticed something as you were placing the dishes on the counter, a thing that you chided yourself for not noticing. A slip of paper was placed on the counter, a broken pen set next to it. You raised a brow, it had to have been written by one of the skeletons. Truthfully, you had no clue if it was even written in a coherent language; mostly just scribbles on paper.. Sure, a few things were at least legible, but you didn't know much.

Some words were clear. "Black took all us... something, something. Don't search." You read aloud, though you didn't exactly know what was going on. 'Black had to be the name of a skeleton. Maybe it was the purple-clad one from a few weeks back? Of course, if Black had taken the skeletons you'd not follow the advice-- you cared about them, and you knew you'd do whatever it takes to find them. You noticed something that you swore wasn't there before, a still glistening wet trail leading from the back of the cabin to the front door.

You gulped, knowing damn well this wasn't good. At least you had a decent starting point, who knows what kind of trouble the skeletons were in now. Perhaps Frail had killed them, or maybe he's holding them hostage. Your thoughts continued to get darker as you exited the rundown structure and started following the trail of slime. Chances are, the situation wasn't as dire as you thought it to be; it was still good to be certain. After all, you'd not want your suspicions to be correct.

Something was coming into view the longer you walked. At first it was obscured by the countless layers of fog; a faint silhouette of what you could only assume to be some sort of _mansion_ based on how large it was. Of course, your viewpoint was probably way off; whatever this building was was far larger than the shoddy cabin the skeletons were living in. You heard some sort of noise that sounded like drunken singing. You raised a brow, slowing down as you peered through a bush.

Two long tables were placed several metres apart. Both tables had plates upon plates of food-- a ridiculously tall skeleton was distributing miscellaneous wrapped food to the second table-- and had several skeletons seated. You recognised Sans and Red, but the rest of them looked unfamiliar-- as unfamiliar as what you could only describe as copies of half of your friends. A lone skeleton that looked like Amalgam's taller, one that looked like Brittle's taller, but none of them were combined. Of course, that wasn't the weirdest bit. The weirdest bit is that there were skeletons that looked _exactly_ like Sans, Red and the others; despite a few differences. Sans' doppelganger, Red's, and a few others that had the general shape of Composite's taller half had massive holes in the sides of their skulls, lone crimson eyelights stared unblinking at their doppelgangers. Meanwhile, the taller-- or in not-shorter-Composite's case, shorter-- were, for the most part, ridiculously tall. Of course, a few weren't, not-shorter-Composite was shorter than you thought possible and a skeleton that you immediately recognised as the shorter purple guy followed the trend. You wondered if the two were related.

Hilariously enough, not-Red was standing on top of the table and singing at the top of his lungs about Gyftmas. A ridiculously tall version of Brittle's taller entity was scolding the other and trying his best to pull the skeleton off of the table with limited success.

Of course, at the second table sat the skeletons you were most familiar with, along with one you weren't and one you were on bad terms with. The melted entities were chatting amongst each other as if nothing was happening. An unfamiliar melted skeleton-- one that you remembered as the purple guy. Of course, the one skeleton you dreaded seeing again was there. A much taller, much broader Amalgam-esque skeleton whose lone eyelight stared through you: Body stopped what he was doing and stared. No threatening gestures, no moving closer, just staring. Staring through your very SOUL.

You decided to leave. None of them looked to be in any danger and you knew that they were enjoying themselves. Self-preservation saved you this time, and as you walked forward you could've sworn you were being followed. The trees seemed to loom over you further, the grasses seemed far too grey for this time of year, the red berries on various bushes seemed both brighter and heavier than usual; you could've sworn you heard slow, deliberate breathing on your neck as your pace quickened. Of course, it was all an illusion. _A trick of the mind, a fabrication, just fear playing tricks on you_ , you reassured yourself. It wasn't as if Body was stalking you-- it was all just a coincidence.

Coincidence. You've been using that word a lot lately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nobody:  
> Not a single soul:  
> Main Character: wHERE ARE MY GOOP BABS I MUST PROTECC  
> Also Main Character: Welp that was fun time to go back to the cabin and not look behind me because Body is certainly not following me.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you don't get a clear answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me except every time my computer is r00d it gets faster. Been trying to figure out how to write this for around about a week now.
> 
> Not proofread.

You had woken up in the usual room, but something was off. You distinctly remember falling asleep on the couch, not in the bed. Had one of the skeletons moved you? Probably. You were certain you hadn't been sleepwalking. Heading downstairs, you were somewhat relieved that the skeletons were back. Brittle and Amalgam were arguing over something you couldn't quite make out in a language you didn't know. Composite was sleeping on the chair-- ever since you brought that one in, he was attached to it in more ways than one. The trio, or rather, the hextuple's heads snapped towards you as if they hadn't been expecting you to be there. Brittle slithered up to you almost immediately, though Amalgam was still speaking. "Good morning." You yawned.

The entire cabin went silent as if your yawning had shocked them. Finally, Brittle got rid of the awkward silence by asking you, "What noise?"

"My yawning?" You raised a brow, and Brittle nodded, repeating his question.

"It's called a yawn, it's the noise you make when you're tired." You phrased it more like a question. Had these skeletons never heard of yawning? It would make sense, of course, they were once made of bone.

"Tired?" Both Amalgam and Brittle spoke at the same time. Composite was still staring, a look (you assumed) to be realisation creeping over his melting faces. "Science cabin gives more food soon." Amalgam changed the topic rather quickly as the lower half began to snore. Of course, you knew that there were other cabins in the woods-- you distinctly remember staying at Sans'-- but you weren't expecting an actual delivery on their end. "We don't food, but you do. Science man nice. He knows, knows, knows, knows." The group of skeletons began repeating the word. It would've been unnerving how in sync they were, but you had grown to expect that sort of thing.

That would explain why they had so few items in their fridge; if they didn't need to eat then they didn't need food delivery. You felt a bit guilty, about to say something along the lines of "you don't need to" but were stopped by a sharp knock on the door. It opened before anybody had a chance to react, revealing a _very_ tired-looking skeleton.

* * *

The skeleton looked quite similar to Composite's taller entity, orange sweater and olive jeans an eerily similar connection. He was much taller than Composite, towering over you easily. However, this skeleton seemed to have far less energy than even the most lazy skeleton in your cabin, heavy bags under his eyes. He was carrying a large paper bag of what you guessed to be food. The skeleton had two features you found odd. A gaping hole in his skull was quite concerning, but the red eyelight staring through you was somewhat unnerving. You were already thinking about asking him about the connection. "you gonna, uh... keep staring, or?" The skeleton looked quite awkward. You felt guilty, looking away almost immediately.

"Sorry, I, um..." You began before the skeleton shook his head.

"nah, mate, i'm sorry. i know it's a bit to take in. bet you were expecting the original or someone from their cabin." He chuckled before extending a hand for you to shake. "believe we got off on the wrong foot. name's screech."

Screech chuckled as you shook his hand before giving him your name. "I didn't know there were other cabins."

"yep. mister control freak over there--" You chuckled at the nickname, "he wants to divide us up properly."

You raised a brow, "Why would he separate all of you?"

"eh, doesn't matter. what matters is that sans told me a bit about your, well... current situation." Screech looked over you, and you almost turned around. "heard you needed some food, and, well... don't want history to repeat itself."

You smiled softly before your expression became somewhat curious. "Thank you so much! But what do you mean by 'history repeating itself?'" As curious as you were, you didn't want to waste food. Screech only mumbled something incoherently before handing you the paper bag and almost immediately vanishing. You mumbled another quick sentence of gratitude before nodding to yourself and turning around to see a group of angry-- or in Composite's case, amused-- skeletons. "You all doing okay?"

"just dandy." Brittle's lower form spoke rather clearly, though his voice was wavering from something you knew wasn't the usual garbled tone.

Amalgam was mumbling to himself again, something about 'bad man' and 'murderer' that you didn't quite understand. Composite was still on the chair, completely silent about the whole ordeal. You shook your head. "You're obviously not fine. Can you tell me why you're upset?"

"Bad man, bad cabin. Bad world." Amalgam muttered. Why was that cabin 'bad?' Why was Screech 'bad?'

You raised a brow, opening your mouth to voice these questions before Brittle spoke. "he kill. he eat. bad cabin."

"What do you mean by that?"

"plenty more but only six between. another end of other means... two who look and one who sees: friends torn from time and spirits pulling at the strings." Composite whispered, seemingly in a trance as a voice quite different from any of the skeleton's voices spoke.

You raised a brow, "Composite, are you alright?"

But he continued, "and when time... space meet and last questions sans answers. beware foolish and feral minds of matter, else a world's end will... complete." That last line made you worry. You didn't know what that meant, but it was quite obviously something bad. "apple, candy, cane, eye, plate, orange."

And with that menacing note, Amalgam rested a hand on your shoulder. "don't worry. don't worry. he bad at puzzles." You knew he was trying to make sure you were calm, but you couldn't help but feel somewhat unsettled by the Composite's rambling. So far, every riddle one of them has told has proven itself correct in some way. \

Brittle cleared his throat. "but... human friend?"

* * *

"Why did you... here? Why stay?" Brittle asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Ten and further plenty but only six between. Another end of another means, two who look and one who sees: friends torn from time and spirits pulling at the strings. And when time and space meet and last questions sans answers: beware Foolish and Feral minds of matter, else a world's end will complete."
> 
> But what's with those words at the end? What would apples, candy, canes, eyes, plates and oranges have to do with anything?


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which skeletons are best bois and you have a bit too much to drink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter than usual, not proofread.

"Why did you... here? Why stay?" Brittle's question startled you. Truthfully, you didn't quite know why you stayed. You had ended up here by mistake and instead of trying to find the place you were trying to go, you had decided to stay the night. You could've crashed anywhere, there were several places you could've stayed if you wanted.

You didn't _have_ to stay here, of course. But for whatever reason, you did. And so your answer was obvious-- at least to you. "I went here on accident, but I stayed because you're all my friends."

"But... We not humans!" Brittle protested. You had no clue if it was the smaller or larger form speaking because of how fast their mouths moved. "You go with other humans!"

You shrugged. "It doesn't matter that you're not human."

Amalgam seemed to join in. The shorter skeleton only grinned as the taller spoke. "Friend? Human friend!" The tall entity seemed extremely excited about the prospect of having a friend. So did the others. In a way, it was endearing the way their eyesockets seemed to spark with life.

"Knock knock knock knock knock..." Amalgam's smaller form began, much to the annoyance of the larger.

You decided to follow along with the joke, even though you knew it would probably end in gibberish. "Who's there?"

The shorter skeleton continued, "Human friend."

"'Human friend' who?"

A chorus of voices arose from the six entities. Interestingly, it sounded as if those six voices were more. "Human friend is you!"

* * *

Eventually, Brittle seemingly melted into the floor. He reappeared not a minute later with enough bottles to ruin someone's liver. _How did the skeleton get those bottles through the floor?_ It was probably magic. "drinks?" The skeleton mumbled.

"Eh, sure. Where did you get those anyways?"

Brittle shushed you, "secret." The skeleton's answer made you somewhat nervous. You also knew that you were most likely going to die from affection if Brittle's previous drunken behaviour has indicated.

It's not like you'd have to work today, and one drink wouldn't hurt, so you poured a small bit into a glass. You knew you'd end up making a fool of yourself if you drank more than you should. You took a sip.

It felt like drinking liquid cough syrup, far weirder than anything you've ever drank. It was definitely homemade, the drink didn't have any labels but whatever it was definitely _did not_ age like wine. Its bubblegum flavour was strong and as your throat burned of alcohol you realised you had downed the entire glass. The taste brought you back to earlier times; your childhood, your parents. _When was the last time you had called your parents?_ _Your friends?_ _Were they worried?_ It seemed you had stood silent far too long as you soon felt a cold, oozing hand on your shoulder.

"Is drink strong, human friend?" Composite's smaller form mumbled.

You shrugged, "Yeah, but it's pretty good."

The two of you headed back towards the main room. Brittle gave a cheeky wave before Amalgam's shorter form spoke. "composite and human friend... sitting in tree."

Composite did not like this as he immediately took his hand off of your shoulder. "No no! Wrong! Not that!" The shorter skeleton looked quite flustered at the chant. "Bad song! Not in tree!"

Brittle let out a chuckle, bottle stuck to one of his eyesockets, jutting out like a stick in a steep cliff. "what's matter?" You found the entire situation somewhat amusing as Composite melted into a bubbling puddle of embarrassment-- quite literally. You stopped thinking about how a childish song flustered an otherwise somewhat stoic skeleton, turning your attention to the increasingly loud pounding on the door.

* * *

You rushed to it, opening the door only to be met with a scowling skeleton. If you remembered properly, that skeleton was called Red. Whatever his name was didn't matter, this was a bad situation. Red was obviously shocked to see a human answering the door. "Can I help you, Mister?" You tried not to let your nervousness show. The skeleton seemed about as confused as you were.

"yeah. some of our booze's gone missin' and i wanna know who took it." Red looked past you as you prayed that Brittle had managed to get the bottle off of his face.

You gulped, the skeleton's piercing eyelights were a stark contrast from the typical peaceful gaze your skeletal cabinmates have. "Ah, well then, I doubt you'd find them here."

Interestingly, Red didn't question your presence at the cabin. "ya sure about that, kid?"

"Yep, now, uh..." The skeleton looked past you and you turned around. Brittle stood, bottle in eyesocket staring down Red. Nobody moved, nobody spoke... For a few seconds, until Red burst out laughing.

Red pretended to wipe a tear from his eyesocket as his body shook with the last bit of residual laughter. "really now, brittle? i never took ya fer the type ta steal, but this is hilarious!"

You tilted your head. "Wait, you're not mad?" The skeleton had looked ready to kill someone nearly moments prior but his expression had done a complete twist.

Red shrugged, "mad? hell no! this is the funniest shit i've seen all fuckin' year! hold on a sec, gotta take a pic ta show sans!" The skeleton took out a rather old-looking flip phone and after fiddling around with it for a moment raised the device. Brittle tipped his two heads in confusion. Had Brittle not seen a phone before? After another few seconds Red turned around and vanished with a soft click.

What had happened? You had no clue. Brittle turned back for the main room and you followed, still disoriented from the weird series of events. You needed another drink, and fortunately the bubblegum brew tasted far better the second time around. You took another long gulp, and it tasted quite refreshing. Not any less strong, but you at least knew what to expect and weren't surprised by the cold liquid burning your throat.

Something about the drink made the roof of your mouth tingle as if it were carbonated, but after years of experience you knew that this beverage definitely had some amount of magic in it. Magic-infused drinks didn't take nearly as much alcohol to have the same effect, but this drink clearly had a lot more alcohol than most you had tried. This would definitely be some heavy stuff even without magic, and you knew you'd be feeling the consequences of your choice of beverage in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> Science man, science man, puts alternate versions of himself and his brother in the woods because he can.
> 
> Nickname chart for obvious reasons, will be updated as time goes on:  
> Amalgam (Sixbones)  
> Brittle (Underfell Sixbones/Sixfell)  
> Red (Underfell Sans)  
> Composite (Underswap Sixbones/Sixswap)  
> Body (Horrortale Sixbones/Sixfright)  
> Felix (Undertale Burgerpants)


End file.
